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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Turkish court in Ankara officially arrested the head of the country’s medical group on Thursday for allegedly making propaganda for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) after she recently said that Turkey has “apparently” used chemical weapons against the Kurdish group in the Kurdistan Region. She was detained on Wednesday.
The PKK has in recent months claimed that its fighters in the Kurdistan Region’s mountainous areas have come under chemical attacks by the Turkish army numerous times since Ankara launched a fresh military operation against the group in April.
On October 18, PKK media published footage purportedly showing Turkish soldiers putting chemical substances into a cave in Duhok province’s Warkhal area through a tube, claiming that a couple of PKK fighters, who were in the cave, were affected by the substances - suffering from memory loss and breakdown of nerves.
Prof. Dr. Sebnem Korur Fincanci, head of the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) and a forensic medicine expert, told the PKK-affiliated Medya Haber news outlet two days later that "I have examined the footage before and apparently one of the toxic gases, poisonous gases, chemical gases that directly affects the nervous system has been used.” She also called for an independent investigation into the allegations.
Her remarks angered Turkish authorities, with Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office launching an investigation against the expert. Police raided her house in Ankara on Wednesday and the state media claimed that a pro-PKK book and a number of bullets were found in her residence.
She appeared in the court on Thursday and was later charged with “making propaganda for a terrorist organization.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan targeted Fincanci before her detention, saying relevant authorities would take action against her.
Reactions
The arrest of Fincanci, who is also a human rights activist, has been widely criticised, with Amnesty International saying on Thursday that she “must be released immediately and unconditionally from detention and must not be prosecuted for her human rights work.”
UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, Mary Lawlor, said on Wednesday that she was “deeply concerned” about Fincanci’s detention, adding that she would be “following closely what happens in this case.”
The Human Rights Foundation of Turkey said the expert’s detention was “unacceptable.”
Turkish opposition parties have also slammed Turkish authorities for Fincanci’s arrest but the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has endorsed it.
“The detention of Sebnem Korur Fincanci is a rush to cover up the crimes of the government… You cannot hide the truth or silence the society with these attacks,” read a tweet from the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) on Wednesday.
AKP Deputy Chairman Numan Kurtulmus was cited by the state media as saying that "It is not legitimate for someone who is the head of an important professional organization in Turkey to be a party to such a great slander and to try to wear down the Turkish Armed Forces."
The Turkish army has carried out several military operations against the PKK, an armed group struggling for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey, in the Kurdistan Region in recent years. Ankara sees the PKK as a terrorist organization. The Kurdish group has recently published several videos which purportedly show Turkish soldiers targeting its fighters with chemical substances.
The PKK claimed on October 17 that Turkey had used banned bombs and chemical substances for at least 2,476 times since April. It later published the identities of 17 of its fighters whom it claimed had been killed in the alleged chemical attacks by Turkey.
Turkish officials have denied the allegations, with Erdogan calling them “slanders.”
Turkish authorities have launched investigations against the allegations, threatening to take legal action against those who promote them.
The Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), an umbrella group which includes the PKK, has called on Kurds to speak up against the alleged chemical attacks.
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